how we became 3!

today my sweet girl is 2 weeks old! she is bigger and happier and healthier than she was a week ago. she has chubby cheeks and a cute double chin. she has a low voice and she snores when she's having a good sleep. she likes being swaddled, being held up on your shoulder or skin to skin on your chest. She loves being bounced on the exercise ball. She has a mind of her own. She takes a soother pretty minimally, and when she is done with it - she shoots it pretty far! She's a good eater, a big pooper, and she loves to snuggle. This is a little mini overview of my sweet daughter!

I decided to write out her birth story and to post it on here. It's pretty long and somewhat detailed, so read it if you wish! For those who don't feel like reading my mini-novel, I thought I'd also post some pictures so you can again see just how cute she is. Also, I promise to one day write about something else again, but I think it's pretty good that I'm even finding time to sit down and write and all I think about these days is her so.. why not :)

If you want to read her birth story, just scroll down to the bottom. Otherwise, here are some pictures!

 our family of 3

 this is how she hangs out with Dad in the evenings. 

 in an outfit - on her way to her first doctors appointment

 very alert after a good supper - so she spends time checking out her Dad :)

and a good snuggle and burping with mom :)

Matti's birth story:

November 14, 2012

My sweet daughter - Matilda Joy Thiessen was born today at 3:58am, weighing 8 lbs 3 oz, 20 inches long. It was quite the journey.

Last Saturday, November 10, pre-labor was really underway. I lost my mucus plug on Thursday (November 8) and had the start of “bloody show” on Saturday. Sunday morning I was up at 1am with regular contractions, so at 4 am I woke Michael up and called my parents. We got to the hospital for 5am and I was hooked up to the monitors by 5:30am. Contractions were 3 minutes apart and 1 minute long, but they were not considered “strong enough” and I was only 2cm dilated - so I was sent home. I was so disappointed and felt silly that I made everyone get up! I spent the day with my Mom, and Michael went out to clear snow. Nothing changed enough to go back. 

Monday was spent at home with my Mom and contractions were stronger but not super close together anymore.  Went to sleep and they had started to get stronger. I could barely sleep because they hurt so much. At 6am I woke up Michael and decided to just lay back down in bed for a while and then the contractions slowed down again.  Mom came over around 9:30 and the 3 of us went to my doctor’s appointment. She said I was now 4-5cm and that she figured she’d see me later that day since she was the on-call doctor and really thought I’d be giving birth. She did a very intense internal & membrane sweep which really had things hurting. 

We went to the Forks and the 3 of us got smoothies and walked laps for over an hour. My contractions were getting stronger and I kept having to stop to lean on something about every 5 minutes. We stopped and had some lunch and then walked a little more, then decided to go to the hospital. When we got there they checked me into triage and the nurse put me on the monitor and doppler. She did an internal and said that she wouldn’t say I was 4-5 but rather closer to 3-4, but since my doctor put me at 4-5, she would just say “unchanged.” She told us to walk around the hospital for an hour and then check back in. So, the 3 of us did laps of St. Boniface and went back upstairs an hour later. 

My doctor happened to be in triage so she came and checked me and also said I was unchanged (but said she would definitely say I was still 4-5). She said we should reassess in 2 hours - so I could go home or walk around St. B some more. She asked me what I would prefer and I told her that if they sent me home I’d probably just cry - and then I started to cry and couldn’t stop! My doctor is very kind and compassionate and calmed me down and told me to stay, walk, eat and get re-checked in 2 hours. 

So we went to the triage waiting room where Mike and Mom could watch TV, read etc, and I just walked laps of that room. The contractions were constantly getting stronger and closer together. They brought me some food & Auntie Ingrid came up to say hello. They took me back in at 6pm and the nurse thought I was forsure 5cm, so she would admit me. She also said I was flushed and it looked like I was dehydrated, so she put me on an IV. Mom and Michael came in and I told them I was being admitted. We were all relieved.

My contractions were getting stronger and around 6:35 we heard an audible “POP” and my water broke! It was unbelievable how much water there was, I was soaked! So we got up and they helped me clean up and I was moved to an LDRP (Labour Delivery Recovery Postpartum) room. They got me settled in to the room and I met my first nurse, Noreen. They got me an exercise ball and it felt good to sit on it through some contractions, but my water continued to gush out - which meant the baby was still higher up and moving down during contractions, forcing out more water. 

The contractions were more painful than I ever imagined they could be. It helped the most if I could lean on Michael and hug him super tight and have my Mom putting pressure on my lower back. I also would hold their hands and squeeze them so hard, I thought I might break them! Michael said he didn’t know I was so strong.

The most pain was in my low back and it turns out Matilda was “sunnyside up” so her head was grinding on my spine and pelvic bone with each contraction. When a contraction would hit, I would feel like I needed to crawl out of my skin or stretch my legs as far as possible to avoid the pain. Michael and Mom were so good at reminding me to take deep slow breaths, in through my nose and out through my mouth. 

I was so exhausted (I had been up since 4am on Tuesday) that I couldn’t really think straight and couldn’t really talk. I would just stick my hand out when a contraction started and Mom & Michael would come hold them. The nurses were noticing that Matilda’s heart rate wasn’t doing great with each contraction, and they wanted to monitor her constantly, but that meant me laying in the bed so they asked if they could put a scalp monitor on her head - I said yes of course.

They also noticed that my contractions were “coupling” - I would have 2 back to back with basically no pause and then a few minutes of relief. I was having back labour and was so exhausted. The resident came in and checked me and I still wasn’t very dilated - so she said they’d likely have to give me oxytocin - but that would give me even more intense contractions. I asked Noreeen to tell me all the medication options (I had researched them ahead of time, but it was hard to think straight!) It was too late for Morphine (which I didn’t want) but I could get Fentanyl, laughing gas, or the epidural. I had heard that not much helps with back labour, but the epidural numbs it the most. I was debating it... and after a couple more exhaustingly painful contractions, Michael asked if he could please make the call for me to get the epidural - so I said yes gladly.

The resident came in to give me the epidural. It was so hard to sit still through each contraction. After 3 tries with the epidural, she was unsuccessful and had to call the attendant. It felt like the longest wait ever! (Mom said it was about an hour until they were done the epidural.) But once it was actually in I started to feel relief. I still felt the contractions, but they were less intense, more like when I was in the triage waiting room. I could now rest a bit and I was dozing off between contractions. Michael helped me walk to the bathroom  and I was cracking jokes - so he knew I was feeling better. 

The nurses changed shifts and I now had Taras and Sam. Sam was a grad nurse, so Taras was training her - which was actually super helpful since she was explaining everything to Sam and we could listen in. Taras told me that she would always be honest with me and if there was something she was concerned about, she would say it. And that if there were concerns, she may just tell me to do something without explaining it and then explain it later once there was less concern. So I really felt comfortable with her and like I could trust her. 

The epidural wasn’t getting rid of my back labour, so Taras suggested we up the dose, which would numb me so much that I would not be able to get up and walk at all. I said that was ok, so they increased my dose. 

Dr. Dzikowski (my doctor) came in to do an internal and to see how things were progressing. She said I was about 6-7 cm - she also said that Matilda had flipped and was now face down - so things were going to move along. But then everything changed.

It’s kind of a blur to me, but they put an oxygen mask on me and I remember Taras saying to me, “move onto the stretcher!!” but I had just been given my new epidural dose, so moving wasn’t easy and I was confused and scared. They said Matilda wasn’t handling contractions (her heartrate would go down with each contraction) and that after the internal her heartrate had dropped (it was normally around 150 beats per minute and it dropped to 90) and wasn’t recovering - so I was being rushed to the operating room. 

When we got to the OR, Matilda’s heart rate was back up a bit, but still not good during contractions. The doctor watched her for a bit longer and just was not happy with how she was coping. The doctor told me a few options but everything was a blur and Michael wasn’t allowed in yet and I was just crying and saying to my doctor, “I just want her out” and the doctor was holding my hand saying, “I do too.” Sam (my nurse) was also there, and kept holding my hand and saying, “It’s Sam - I’m here for you” which was really reassuring.

The doctor did one more internal and then said, “lets try pushing” - so they bent my legs, held my feet, told me to breathe in, put my chin down and push - so I did and then Dr. Dzikowski said, “Ok - let’s just get her out!!” - so she had me sign a waiver and they had Michael change into scrubs. At this point my nurses had to leave - Taras came over to me and asked me what we were naming our daughter, so I told her “Matilda Joy” and she said “that’s beautiful. She will be here so soon.” She had to leave and I just cried and cried. 

They finally brought Michael in - he was so nervous and scared when he was waiting - not knowing what was happening. They got me all prepped for surgery and Michael sat at my head. They put up the drape - increased my epidural medication and started surgery.

A few minutes later (and a lot of pressure and what felt like them pushing and pulling me around) they pulled Matilda out. Then I heard the most beautiful sound - loud crying and screaming of my little girl! She sounded like a screeching cat! Michael got to go over and hold her and he brought her over to where I was so I could look at her. She was so beautiful! She had a little ridge on her head where she was sitting in the birth canal. She has Michael’s chin and my lips. She is so cute and perfect. She weighs 8lbs 3oz and is 20 inches long. She was born at 3:58am.

Michael got to hold her while they finished my surgery. I felt such relief. My whole body was shaking and I suddenly felt very nauseated. I ended up having to just turn my head and throw up in a little container - Michael was holding Matilda in one hand and the dish in the other - lovely! They then moved us into recovery where they let me finally hold her skin to skin and we started breastfeeding. She had a natural latch. 

Mom got to come in and see her and we told her the name - Matilda Joy, after Mom. Mom cried and said “really??”. Mom then went back to wait with Dad, Mom & Dad T, Phoebe & Donovan - they had all been there since the evening before! Once they finally moved me to a postpartum room, Dad snuck up to meet her.

Everyone followed soon after (around 8am). We had so many visitors and eventually we were going home (Friday, November 16). The first week was hard. Matilda lost 13.5% of her birthweight - so we had to supplement with formula. The public health nurse was a day late receiving my referral - so our first time at home was rough - up constantly, crying and feeding. I spent a lot of time crying. My milk supply did not come in and we had to make the decision to do what is best for Matilda, which is formula. We have had a happy and content baby ever since. Michael is such a wonderful Dad and stepped into his role right from the moment she was born - he is smitten. 

We are in love and we are so thankful for our sweet Matilda Joy!